Visual Solutions Workshop
On April 16, 2008 at the InStore Marketing Summit held in Chicago, Proteus conducted an Advanced Learning Workshop for over 100 key managers from leading consumer product companies entitled Visual Solutions to Marketing Problems: From Consumer Insights to the Retail Floor.
The workshop focused on insights into how we observe and then interpret what’s going on with today’s consumer. The American consumer is constantly changing in this hyper-speed world we live in, and a thorough understanding of who they are and what motivates them is critical for us to do our jobs well.
Proteus knows that today’s middle-market consumer is smarter, more sophisticated, better traveled and more discerning than ever. What do they want? What are they motivated by? What are they tired of hearing or seeing? We constantly collect this information and map it to see what actionable patterns and trends emerge. “Actionable” is the key word we focus on in determining which consumer behaviors and attitudes truly matter.
The Visual Solutions workshop focused on Macro consumer behavioral trends. Two of the major ones that were discussed are:
• Consumers are smarter• Consumers are busier
People are smarter. Consumers are increasingly smarter, wiser and better informed. They want to know about the products they are using in the context of the world they live in. Education is part of the reason. In 1940, 4% of the American public had a bachelor's degree. In 2006, that number had increased to close to 30%. On top of that, there's the extraordinary access to information consumers enjoy today. With over 238 million internet users in the U.S. (as of December 2007), and today’s advanced searching techniques, every consumer can become a mini-expert on an endless number of subjects. Smart consumers have a greater ability to control their destiny and their media consumption. You can understand why smart marketers do well to recognize that they're not going to get away with pulling the wool over consumers' eyes. After all, consumers have never been more cynical than when they encounter a hollow pitch they've already seen before.
The implication for marketing and communication managers: give consumers pertinent, relevant information they can use to make sound judgments. Anything less ultimately insults them and discredits you.
People are busier. Do you know anyone who has enough time these days? They say we're working more hours than our parents did. And even when we're not at work, our Blackberries tether us to the job. The truth is, virtually all of us face a time crunch of epidemic proportions. In order to squeeze more time out of 24-hour days, consumers have become incredibly adept at multi-tasking, whether it be trip chaining our way through chores and shopping on the weekend or watching a football game at the same time we work on our laptops while listening to our MP3 music players.
The implication for marketers and designers: figure out what matters most to the consumers you want to sell to and streamline your messaging to them. Trying to say too much in an era of limited time is insensitive and counterproductive. Just as important is identifying product opportunities that truly provide consumers solutions to everyday problems that save them time, effort and advanced planning.
The next time you start a new product or marketing development project, make sure you are armed with relevant consumer insights. This download is a great tool to help your organization understand your target consumer and how to reach them. It's a roadmap that we use to turn consumer insights into effective products and programs.
At Proteus, we’ve made it a science to help our clients determine answers to these and other critical marketing questions. If you stand to benefit from a sure-handed process like ours, e-mail kristen@proteusdesign.com to get the ball rolling.
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